Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-11-03
CHINESE COGNOMENS.

Peculiar Names Of the Natives Of tho Co.
lestial Kingdom.
"The names of Cinnamon translated
into English" said laundryman the
other day. "sound and look ridiculous,
and afford no idea whatever of their
real meaning. In the celestial king
dom family name is carried around
for thousands of years. through one
hundred generations. 1t can be spelled
only Theoretically in any other lam
guage. A few of the most common
family names are Fung, Hing, Hop,
Lee. Lum, Mong, Sing, Sang, Tong
and Wah. To these are added sur
names equivalent to the English John.
Thomas and SO on, but, unlike these
surnames. they are in every instance
descriptive of some trait or custom, or
perpetuate some deed or some event
in the family history. There are in the
Chinese empire not over one thousand
different family names, while in the
United States there are, in a population
not one-tenth as great, forty thousand
distinct family names, and five thou
sand surnames. nearly all of them
purely arbitrary.
1.-The family name of q Monaghan
may sometimes convey ludicrous
meaning. For instance. Fung means
the 'worshiper of the divine chopstick.'
Gee means bandy-legged. and, there
fore, Fung Gee means the handy
legged worshiper of the divine chop
stick Citing means lover of rats,
and the original meaning of family
name will not infrequently become
gradually broadened in its implication.
SO that Fung Gung means, in popular
estimation, fat rat-eater. Hing is a
family name that signifies cross-eyed.
and Hing Fung in his own country
would become cross-eyed worshiper
of the divine chopstick. Of course
the original MIR. Hing was afflicted
with strabismus, but the blow falls
heavily on the descendants who are
not cross-eyed. Hop expresses the
idea of bold. bad man, a pirate in
bygone days. perhaps. or a money
changer, and Han means pink-cheeked;
so you have Hop Han as the pink
checked pirate of the Chinese main.
Lee, one of the most common family
names. means musician, one who
plays on the bazoo. and Sun means a
rough fellow, one untamed. In other
words. Sun-Lee, or Lee Sun, can. with
perfect propriety, be addressed as the
wild Monaghan bazoo player.
"But the funniest combination !
ever knew" said the washerman, sink
ing his falsetto voice into whisper
that his partner. who was drying shirts
in the other room. might not hear him,
twas Yung Fung Lung" Yung means
cueless-bald head. Fung is numer.
al for three thousand, referring prob
ably to the date of the origin Of the
Yung family. Lung means one hav-
ing deformed feet covered with cOrns
or warts. an infliction quite common
among the lower classes of Cinnamon.
Join ,he three names together, and
see what nice thing you have. The
ba.d-headed one with three thousand
corns on his feet, that is the literal
translation. Lee, as told you, means
musician, and Tong expresses the idea
of a large mouth. literally big and
ugly-featured, and Tong Lee is there
fore more accurately referred to as the
loud-mouthed blower on the bold ba-
ZOO.
"Many Chinese family names ex-
press sentiment such as Was, gentle
lover Foy, rice-eater full of joys
Lum, brave hunter;' Mon. Mum, Nun
or Mong. celestial comforter (akin to
priest); Wing, 'soft-eyed opium guz-
zler;' Yik. 'piggie.' and Won. man.
DARN Tsi, Kahi and Ssoraki are roy
al names. Baltimore american.
General O. O. Howard has been
presented by some of his San Francis
co admirers with an unique gift in the
ehouo a AoU rOhp in shane aiZe and